The Manipulation And Loss Of Ophelia In Shakespeare's Hamlet

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince Hamlet may act like he is "mad north-northwest", but it is his lover, Ophelia, who is truly mad. Both lose their fathers at the hands of others and both have loved ones that seem to have turned against them. Unlike Hamlet, who has revenge, Ophelia ends up having nothing to hold onto. Her sanity breaks and sends her into a downward spiral, while Hamlet's remains intact. In this paper, I will show that it is the manipulation by and loss of the two men Ophelia loved most-Hamlet and her father, Polonius-which leads to her madness.

There have been many theories offered-especially by psychoanalysists-concerning the cause of Ophelia's madness. Freudian theorists like Theodor Lidz attribute it

In Act 2, Scene 1, Ophelia tells her father of an encounter with Hamlet in her closet. In this incident, Hamlet, seemingly mad, grabs her and peruses her face. Ophelia, obeying her father's wishes, not to mention scared of Hamlet's appearance, says nothing and tries to pull away. Hamlet leaves. While some might attribute this to Hamlet's plan of revenge, that he is merely acting mad and hoping this incident would find its way to Claudius, Hamlet's appearance and actions suggest that he truly was mad with ecstasy for a moment. The knocking knees, piteous look and the "sigh so piteous and profound As it did seem to shatter all his bulk" (Shakespeare, 2.1.91-2) indicate more than just playacting. In this moment of passion, Hamlet went to Ophelia to find out why she refused to see him. He was looking for some indication of Ophelia's love, which's why he studied her face. Ophelia gave nothing and tried to pull way. Hamlet took this as rejection. This rejection makes it easier for him to manipulate her later on in the play. While she seemed not to love him, Ophelia's description of the incident contains enough sympathy to show that she still has feelings for him. She is also scared of him. She falls back on her father for help, but it only leads to him manipulating her more and sets her up with another encounter with

To prove his theory about Hamlet suffering from ecstasy, Polonius tells Claudius and Gertrude that he will "loose [his] daughter" (2.5.162) upon the prince. Six lines later, Hamlet, who is known for walking in the area, enters. Hamlet has overheard Polonius' plan of manipulation and decides to use word manipulation to let Polonius know of his discovery and to warn against loosing Ophelia. He identifies Polonius as a "fishmonger," which means a "procurer; pimp," (Partridge, 106) and talks about "good kissing carrion," "'carrion' was a common expression at that time for 'flesh' in the carnal sense" (Wilson, 105). Hamlet warns Polonius not to let Ophelia "walk i' th' sun. Conception is a blessing, but as your daughter may conceive, friend, look to't" (Shakespeare, 2.2.184-5). The prince obviously plays with the words "sun" (the star and son-referring to himself like in Act I, Scene 2) and "conception" (understanding and conceiving a child). Polonius attributes these puns, and others like them in this scene, to madness of ecstasy and not as a warning that Hamlet overheard him. Hamlet did overhear him and begins to see Ophelia as a puppet being controlled by Polonius; a frail woman like Gertrude, whose emotions and desires, Hamlet believes, are as easily manipulated by Claudius. He would've concluded that Ophelia's rejection was partially-if not entirely-Polonius' idea. The exchange